Hi, I'm 13 years old and thinking about transitioning. I'm not 100% sure how adolescent transition works in the US, but I know that I'm already midway through puberty. If I decide that I want to transition, what treatments are available at my age? I have a fairly masculine appearance and have no desire to come off as a drag queen, so simply crossdressing wouldn't work. Is HRT available yet? The only thing I can find online about adolescent gender dysphoria is blocking puberty, and it's a bit too late for that.
- Our brains aren't fully developed before the age of 25, and there is a study showing 70% of children/teens with gender dysphoria grow out of it - In the UK one isn't allowed to take testosterone/estrogen until they are 16 - I would try using make up to contour your face into being more feminine. - If you have a thin frame you would wear jeans from the female aisle (if you're afraid of being outed, there are cismen who have a thin frame who wear female jeans) - Perhaps wear more pastel colours, as studies show that that females are more likely to like this than men
I completely agree with Secrets5. Transitioning is a lengthy harrowing process that takes a long time, costs a lot and will change your life. If you end up growing out of it or it is (for lack of a better term) 'just a phase', having already medically started that process, it can be even worse to detransition. Maybe try seeing if wearing more feminine clothes makes you more comfortable and in the most extreme case, get people in your life to refer to you by your preferred name and pronouns, but in terms of actually transitioning, it is infinitely safer to wait.
I thought that puberty can be blocked midway so that other changes don't occur, because the body goes on changing till the early 20s. Then one can decide at 16 or 18 to take or not cross/sex hormones, or not to take blockers anymore and have a "normal" puberty later.
I know puberty blockers are available. You have to go to a pediatric endocrinologist and it would mean getting shots regularly - monthly, i think? But beware, they can make you so moody as to not be worth it almost. Its so new that the long term effects of using them aren't really known, i don't think, so know that as well.
Medically speaking I think blockers are the only thing they can do; usually doctors will wait to start proper HRT until you are older (18 or in some cases I believe 16). At 13 you may have started puberty, but you are far from finished with it. So blockers can help prevent you from developing further while you wait. As a couple others have suggested, you can also look into social transition (for example, asking your friends to refer to you with she/her) and non-medical things like clothing. You don't necessarily have to go full-on and wear all women's clothing, but one or two small things might help you feel better for the moment. If you have a shorter cut, you can also start to grow out your hair.
In the US, hormone blockers are available to pubescent as soon as you are diagnosed, age 8-12, usually, depending on how soon you start puberty. It usually takes a month or two. Blockers are reversible if you end up changing your mind, so they start this treatment to give a young teen more time to make a decision. The new recommendations for pediatric trans treatment in the US includes hormones starting at age 14-15. The national pediatrics oversight committee determined that it is harmful to delay treatment. Also, the study that showed that 70 percent of pre-pubescent non-gender conforming kids did not turn out to be trans has been thrown out. It turns out the researcher decided that anyone who was no longer in treatment 10 years later was not trans. He did not do any followup, and many of the children he counted as "no longer trans" moved out of the area, or still identify as trans, but aren't actively transitioning. All studies show that, once puberty is underway, it is very rare for a person who identifies as trans to end up identifying as cis later.
